Week of February 1, 1984

President Reagan says that Israel is needlessly delaying a military withdrawal

from Lebanon, neglecting the ‘certain moral point” of the Beirut government’s

own wishes.

Chief Justice Warren Burger says that the U.S. Supreme

Court’s workload is approaching a “disaster level” and calls

for creating a new national tribunal to decide conflicts

between federal appeals courts.

A car full with explosives blows up in front of a building

housing a research center funded by the Palestine Liberation

Organization, killing at least 15 in Beirut.

New York City is set to get its second area code. Look for

prefix 718 to serve Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island. Look for it next year.

Secretary of state George P. Shultz departs China after four days of talks with

leaders. He says problems still remain.

The nation’s key unemployment rate fell in January for the first time since the

recession began 18 months ago. It’s now at 10.4%. Responding to the news,

President Reagan predicted that the darkest days of unemployment are over and

“Americans can take heart” because “we’re on the move now” toward economic

recovery.

Weekly radio address - President Reagan said that he

does not like the word “Reaganomics” because it sounds

like a fad diet or an aerobic exercise, but he insisted that

his economic policies with that label are working. “We

have a long way to go, but that’s a start at last,” said the

President. He said that in the 16 months since his

package of income tax and budget cuts went into effect,

“inflation has dropped to only 3.9% for all of 1982, the

lowest it’s been in 10 years.” “Interest rates are about half

what they were. The effect of that is a 40% increase in

housing starts. Automobile sales are up as are all retail

sales. Factory orders have begun to increase…. Real

wages are up for the first time in three years. The rate of

personal savings is up, meaning more capital for investment.”

Week of February 1, 1984

Entertainment news -

Seems that George Lucas has quietly changed the

name of the third Star Wars installment to “Return of

the Jedi” instead of “Revenge of the Jedi.’ But posters

began showing up back in November before the

change and look out, they’re worth some bucks.

Actor Tom Selleck, star of “Magnum P.I.” on CBS,

files a $20-milion libel suit against the National

Enquirer for three stories published last year. One

story said he was having a “blockbuster” romance

with Victoria Principal of “Dallas” but Selleck said he

never met her.

Who’s Australia’s biggest movie star? With six films to

his credit, it’s Mel Gibson. He’s appeared in “Mad

Max,” and “Road Warrior” among others. Gibson, born in Westchester, NY -

moved to Australia when he was 12 (along with his family). Now he’s back in the

States and beginning to make movies in Hollywood. Look for his first Hollywood

movie - “The Year of Living Dangerously.”

Music news -

Passing - Karen Carpenter , the Grammy Award-

winning singer who, along with her brother Richard,

became one of the most successful pop music duos

ever, dies of heart failure brought on from years of

anorexia-nervosa. She weighed 108 pounds at her

death. She was 32.

Marries - Stevie Knicks to longtime friend Kim

Anderson.

Peter Frampton is dropped from A&M Records after a slough of poor selling

records. Seems his career hit a downward trend after his appearance in the

movie “Sgt Pepper.”

So MTV doesn’t really show black videos - or those by black artists. So where

can a video viewer go to see black videos? Answer - USA’s “Night Flight,” HBO,

the Music Video Channel, BET and Showtime.